Dynamic Comparison of Physicians’ Interaction Style with Electronic Health Records in Primary Care Settings

Researchers have been increasingly interested in the influence of computers on physician-patient communication in consultation rooms because of the substantial growth in the use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) in the U.S. Previous research showed that physicians have different ways of interacting with patients and EHRs; and these styles may relate to different patterns of nonverbal interaction between the physicians and patients and influence the outcomes of the clinical visit. The purpose of this study was to identify the differences of eye gaze patterns in three EHR interaction styles: the technology-centered style, the human-centered style, and the mixed interaction style. 100 primary care visits with different interaction styles were videotaped. Eye gaze behaviors were coded and described as frequencies and durations of gaze. The dynamic eye gaze patterns of the physicians and patients, in terms of how their gaze behaviors were sequentially associated, were analyzed using lag-sequential analysis. The results indicated that technology-centered group had significantly shorter amount of mutual gaze than other two groups (p=0.032; p=0.015, respectively). In addition, in technology centered style, the physicians were more likely to shift their gaze to the computer when the patients gazed at them; and when the physicians gazed at the computers, the patients were more likely to gaze somewhere else which might be an indicator of disengagement. The study implied that EHRs should be designed in a way that facilitates a positive interaction between the physicians and patients, such as maintaining mutual gaze. Training should also be provided to the physicians for establishing effective and positive interaction styles.